This week I'm experiencing what I would call true burnout. This is the feeling that I have depleted myself completely of new ideas and my creative problem-solving skills are kaput. My bandwidth is shot. I also have no eye for typos (forgive me).
The comforting thing about this state or as I would call it, a "roadblock," is that I knew it was coming.
When I teach my students how to identify creative roadblocks, I first explain the 5 stages of the creative process. This is the process I use to take my ideas and turn them into physical things out in the world. Here's what it looks like:
Clear - Play - Fuel - Generate - Reflect
The Clear stage is about preparing. Play is about testing. Fuel is about informing. Generate is about making. Reflect is about reviewing.
When you're stuck in your creative work, it's because you are spending too much time at a particular stage, instead of moving through to the next stage.
If you spend too much time at Clear, you're having trouble starting. If you spend too much time at Play, you're doing too much testing. If you spend too much time at Fuel, you're comparing yourself to other people. If you spend too much time at Reflect, you're evaluating your work too soon.
For me, I'm currently spending too much time at Generate. This fall I'll be launching a school (which I can't wait to tell you about) and that has required me to produce a bunch of content. When you're experiencing burnout, you're over-generating, or producing/going/doing without taking a moment to reflect or refuel. This, paired with the mental exhaustion of a pandemic is a perfect recipe for burnout. It makes complete sense.
The good news is I'm not worried, because I know what I need to do. The remedy in this case is to move to the next stage of the creative process. I need to reflect and refuel. And that my friends, is what I'm going to do this week on my vacation.
